Neo-Nazi organization posters seen in UAA skybridges

On March 10, Identity Evropa, a neo-Nazi organization, tweeted out photos of their posters posted in multiple locations UAA’s campus.

Identity Evropa was founded in March of 2016. On the organization’s website, the group is self-described as, “a fraternal organization for people of European heritage located in the United States that participate in community building and civic engagement.”

On March 23 at 11:15 a.m. in response to Identity Evropa’s original tweet pertaining to UAA, Eric Jones tweeted back, “ha you thought,” with photos of the same areas at UAA, without an Identity Evropa poster in sight.

Jones, a junior studying electrical engineering, was alarmed by the presence of the posters.

“I did not actually take them down, I think the school took them down before I got there,” Jones said. “I have been seeing my father and family racially abused for my whole life. Multiple threats have been made. So the fact that a bunch of insecure white males… need to believe that America should be for white people only, is completely the wrong view.”

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The group, which has over 29,000 followers on Twitter, is known for encouraging its members to put up posters like the ones spotted at UAA. The University of Washington, Northern Illinois University, Eastern Washington University and the University of Oklahoma have denounced the organization after finding similar flyers posted around their respective campuses.

“I don’t understand why they think they should be advertising their hate freely,” Kim Michaca, an undergraduate student studying business management, said. “We had a literal war over how we all feel about nazis and what their place in society should be… nonexistent.”

Identity Evropa is classified as a hate group by The Southern Poverty Law Center, a public interest law firm and civil rights advocacy organization, located in Montgomery, Alabama.

The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks over 1,600 extremist groups, and outlines their criteria for a hate group as a group which “based on its official statements or principles, the statements of its leaders, or its activities — has beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.”

Currently, The Southern Poverty Law Center lists 954 active hate groups in the United States, four being active or headquartered in Alaska.

“The university has designated areas to post printed materials. These are open to all members of the campus community, as well as the public. They are designed to promote engagement, interaction and the exchange of ideas,” Ben Morton, Dean of Students at UAA, said. “Department bulletin boards are managed by the given department. Unless specified, they are not for public posting. The department manages the content and will remove unauthorized materials from those boards.”